m/m romance

A free review copy was furnished by the author in exchange for my honest opinion.

Phillipe Michael Ponty is a half-Japanese, half-French man who is running from a tragic past. Settling in Connecticut, he lives out his life in disguise, trying to hide the fact that he is a thief working for the front dance company Tanaka Dance. However, he soon gets involved with Tommy Sear and his band, who are about to be signed to the record label Romano Studios. Julian Romano recognizes Philip from a break-in at his home in Italy and pursues the young man who captured his attention the night of the burglary.

I’m a huge fan of Japanese yaoi so when this yaoi-flavored novel dropped into my inbox, I was eager to read and review it. However, while The Italian Connection 1 is a fun read, there are a few things that hold it back.

Firstly, errors. I noticed at least twenty typos/missing words in my read-through, too many for a novel that claims to have seen an editor. While they’re not in and of themselves a deal-breaker, they did pull me out of the novel on several occasions. Add to this a few very awkward sentences and you get a book that could use one more edit and polish before it’s ready for primetime.

Secondly, the romance feels rushed. Julian wants the thief in his house before he even sees his face (or that he’s a man), which just seemed off. Who gets sexually aroused by somebody who’s robbing them? When Julian and Philip finally get together, Julian is ridiculously fast at confessing love to a man he barely even knows.

Those points aside, The Italian Connection 1 is a pretty fun read, as long as you can appreciate the over-the top nature of the beast. All of the yaoi tropes are in play here, yet they’re fun to watch unfold, and despite the cliched nature of the protagonist having a tragic past, I felt moved by it regardless. Probably my favorite part of this novel was the rock band plot with Philip singing for Tommy Sear, which somewhat reminded me of anime favorite Gravitation. Sear’s unrequited love for Philip also adds some nice conflict to the story which no doubt will come into play in part two.

Extra care has been taken to produce the e-book itself, with each chapter having a nice header. The cover itself is also very pretty and eye-catching.

The Italian Connection 1 is recommended if you like Japanese yaoi and/or appreciate a fast-paced, unbelievable-but-fun kind of story. Those looking for realism and accuracy in their storytelling should look elsewhere.

Dan Miller is a haint-worker, sending the unquiet dead over to the other side. Or at least he was, before his Mom died in the line of duty and his Dad committed suicide. Dan dropped out of college and came home to take care of his two younger siblings, Bea and Virgil, giving up haint-work forever. That is, until Leif Helsvin shows up with his black eyeliner and expensive sports car. Leif is looking for a necromancer, and he needs Dan’s help to track him down. Attracted to the handsome stranger, Dan picks up his wand and breaks all of his own rules.

Hainted is a page-turner. Once I picked it up, I could scarcely stop reading it. Hawk builds a fantastic setting in which supernatural elements mesh with real world small-town North Carolina . Dan’s conflict between wanting to keep his family safe and have a life of his own is believable and understandable and my heart went out to him several times during the course of the story as he struggled to remain in the closet for the sake of his siblings. Leif is a great bad boy with some secrets of his own, but he’s still very likable underneath his shields. I was definitely rooting for both of them to overcome their problems and find a way to be together.

There’s also a great supporting cast in this book. Siblings Bea and Virgil are given enough page time to be rounded and fleshed out characters, and the addition of haint-worker Taryn later in the book adds conflict and a group dynamic.

As I’ve said before, I love my romance to have a strong plot besides the romance, and Hainted gets the ratio of romance to plot absolutely perfect in my opinion. The romance is strong and believable but isn’t the only point of the book, and I found myself turning the pages as much to find out what Runar had in store for them as the romantic elements. The writing is strong and sets a vivid scene you won’t soon forget. Hainted comes strongly recommended.

Detective Mac and his boyfriend Tony are in a closeted relationship. They are separated for the holidays while Tony visits his family in Florida. Mac, meanwhile, investigates a murder case in which nothing is what it seems – one that will make him realize that the best things in life are not to be taken for granted.

I didn’t read Life Lessons, though this short story made sense just fine without it. It was a very touching holiday story that hit home. I lost a friend the week I read this and it helped put some things into perspective. It was a very bittersweet tale that made me tear up, but in the end left me with warm feelings about love, life and death.

It was good to read a holiday story that was inspirational without being preachy, sweet without being unadulterated fluff. It’s a free read and definitely worth picking up over the holidays.

In the first part of this serialized story, Paul is an airline pilot who’s struggling to fit in amongst macho car fanatics and womanizers. When he meets the handsome Dallas, he finally feels like things are going his way. Even better, the flight he’s serving on, Flight 501, is taking him to Bermuda where he’ll be able to spend more time with Dallas. But something’s not quite right about Flight 501, and Paul is about to have his skeptical world-view challenged by the unexpected.

I thought this was a very strong start to a serial story that I will definitely be reading more of. It’s got enough mystery that it feels like a season opener for Lost instead of an m/m novel. It really gripped me by the tail and pulled me right in, something which every good story should aim to achieve.

I really like the amount of research Castillo-Price has obviously taken the time for; the details pour out from the page in a way that’s accurate and believable. Paul feels like a real airline pilot who knows what he’s doing instead of a character that’s built on guesswork and it adds a sense of realism to the story. His relationship with Dallas doesn’t rush in any way; they’re just getting to know each other and I can’t wait to see where it goes, especially after the thrilling way this part ends. I have a lot of questions and I’m looking forward to following along to see if they’re answered.

If you’re looking for m/m that’s about more than the just the romance, you can’t go wrong with Into The Bermuda Triangle, especially as it’s a free read on the Amazon Kindle Store.

Ivan and his bodyguard stop at an inn and tell their tale to a group of revelers at a wedding feast; a tale of how things are not what they seem to be at first sight.

I really did enjoy this sweet little story which is apparently a retelling of a Russian folk tale. The m/m content is fairly light and there’s no sex, yet the emotion in these pages is deep and sincere. I really did feel for Ivan as he fought to save his friends from the curse, and cringed along with him at the final act he undertook in his tale, letting out a long sigh of relief that it all ended happily despite such violence. I thought the story was cleverly nested in the wedding feast tale; both being tales of things being not what they appear.

I recommend this short story to everyone, especially as it’s free. I found it quite refreshing to read a story that was about the sentiment and not the sex.

Vin and Jali have been paired up to shoot a pornographic movie for a high-paying customer, the only problem is that Jali is an alien of a species that Vin has never seen before… and that the customer wants him to bottom, something he doesn’t do on camera. Will Vin and Jali figure it out or will Vin have to negotiate an escape clause and take a penalty?

I was very excited when I read the blurb for this story. Sci-fi? Futuristic pornography? Alien sex? Sold. However, while the setting of this story was interesting, I felt a little disappointed when I actually got around to reading it. It’s still an interesting, well-written story with developed characters that’s worth reading, especially as it is free. However, it comes with some drawbacks that keep it from earning a higher score in my opinion.

Jali was probably my favorite character in this book. He’s an interesting alien with blue skin and the power to project thoughts. He’s pretty matter-of-fact about his job and doesn’t seem to be shy about being on film at all. Vin was a little more reluctant but by the end of the book I had warmed more to him as well, especially when he finally stands up for himself and what he wants.

While I’d hoped for Vin and Jali to film the vid and find a deeper connection, this story actually takes place before the shoot and ends at the very start of it. I was fine with that because I figured it would help Vin and Jali find a deeper emotional connection, but certain things about their relationship fell flat for me regardless. I felt that Jali jumped the gun, so to speak, on announcing that they might be able to share a permanent bond. The sex lacked intimacy for a private act in my opinion and would have been better suited to being in front of the camera. When we finally got to the shoot, the story abruptly ended with a hazy HFA.

My other complaint is that some consent issues made me feel a little uncomfortable at the beginning. While Vin is understandably under a contract, it seems at the start that he is almost being coerced to co-operate. He’s scared by the size of Jali’s dick. He’s being forced to wear a cock ring that penalizes him for taking it off. Top it off with the fact that he’s being asked to participate in a sex act he’s uncomfortable with and can’t just walk away from killed some of the hotness for me. I don’t really enjoy fear or reluctance in a sexual relationship that’s supposed to be a HEA or HFN. When Vin does come around to the idea of sexual congress with Jali, it turns out that Jali is emitting pheromones and I really did wonder how much of their connection was real and how much was Vin under the influence of that. Jali did seem like a nice, interesting guy and I didn’t think he was taking advantage of Vin at all, but I really did feel that Vin was a reluctant porn star who shouldn’t have been in the business in the first place. The ending did resolve a lot of that but at the start I was mentally begging Vin to just break his contract and leave. I know it wasn’t really intended to be read that way, but my mind does go to dark places occasionally. Perhaps I was just in a dark mood when I read this and I’d say that if you’re interested in reading it, please don’t let my review put you off.

Kyle has lost the use of his legs after being shot by a Glyrinny disrupter, so when he’s asked to hunt down a spy from the mysterious, shape shifting alien race, he’s more than happy to take the job. Obtaining passage on board the Scorpion, he meets a man from his home world, Grimm, who takes a special interest in Kyle despite his useless legs. Kyle himself has given up on seeing himself as a sexual being, but finds himself attracted to the warrior, even though that attraction could stand in the way of his mission.

Incursion is well thought out and excellently constructed. Voinov has put together an interesting world with some colorful races and characters. Grimm is a most fascinating person and you can really see why Kyle is attracted to him, even though he’s trying to concentrate on his mission. The story takes many twists and turns until we get to the final, brilliant conclusion which had me shaking my head with a smile on my face. Incursion is a smart story, one that’ll have you thinking about the implications long after the last page has been turned.

A war based on cultural misunderstandings with the alien Karalian race has plagued Humans for over two hundred years. Thrust into this war is Alan Watson-Karvakian, a patriotic fighter pilot who fights in the war to protect his family back on Earth. He believes with all his heart that he’s defending Earth from a wicked alien race hellbent on its destruction.

Everything’s about to change for Alan. When his ship crash-lands on contested planet Rinax One, he meets Karalian Vash Zor’Vina, who rocks Alan’s expectations by saving his life. Vash is being pursued by Karalian commandoes determined to execute him, and Alan finds himself mired in complex Karalian social issues. He’ll have to re-evaluate his views if he wants to save Vash, and come to the understanding that not everything he’s been told by his government is the truth.

Add the fact that Vash is attractive and stirring in a way that Alan hasn’t felt in years, and the stage is set for an internal struggle that will take both of them past differences, politics, and personal doubts into a romance that will change their lives forever.

A story written for the Goodreads Gay Science Fiction Group’s 500 Member Challenge, based on the following prompt from user Bluesky39:

“I would like to read about a future human race at war with an alien race. Two soldiers, one from each side, are the only survivors left on an alien planet and have to work together to survive. They should fall in love and have an HEA but the conflict between the races doesn’t have to be resolved. Maybe our heroes escape to another galaxy or find asylum on a neutral planet. The military aspect and the clash between the differing races and cultures are key to the story.”

In this sequel to Opening Worlds, we continue following Jason Kim as he goes to live on Perelan with his new husband Ferran. Jason will have to face culture shock, homesickness, misunderstandings and political intrigue as he struggles to reconcile the things he believes in and his feelings for Ferran with strange alien traditions and a people divided as to whether they want him there at all.

Changing Worlds builds on the strong relationship of Jason and Ferran while introducing conflicts and external pressures that test the strength of their bond and even their very lives. Even though Ferran’s family is very accepting of Jason, other houses are not and he has to struggle with a language barrier and an isolationist society that is leery of outsiders. Jason and Ferran show their inner strength as they face these trials, proving their love over and over again. I really felt that I was reading about the best of marriages as the two prop each other up and care for each other’s safety and well-being. They have misunderstandings too, like any married couple, yet they communicate like adults and settle their problems.

Changing Worlds struck me on a personal level as well. As an ex-pat, I have had to deal with feelings of homesickness and adapting to a different culture. The way Jason’s feelings are portrayed in Changing Worlds is one-hundred-percent accurate. I actually felt tears roll down my face as Jason grew frustrated and yearned for the simple trappings of home in one scene. Yet, like my real life, the love he left his home for is worth more to him than anything and his determination to see it through for Ferran means he earns every drop of love that comes his way. The best relationships, real and fictional, are earned through struggle and personal growth, sacrifice and shared experience and I really felt that between Ferran and Jason.

Cari Z has also created an incredibly rich world with Perelan. Everything from the acid humidity of the air to the rituals of the culture are shown to the reader in vivid detail, bringing Perelan and its people to life. Sometimes these details are unflinching and somewhat disconcerting, but that only adds to the richness of the story. The supporting characters are strong as well, the twins as well as Matriarch Grenn and Giselle in particular, though I found Penelope’s backstory intriguing as well. The internal politics of Perelan feel real and believable, the kind of schemes and machinations that would happen in a society like this struggling to define itself and the direction it wants to take in a larger universe.

This novel is ripe for a sequel as well. I would love to go back to Perelan or even just visit Jason and Ferran out in the universe someday. I hope Cari Z considers it as I really love the universe she has created here and recommend it to everyone.